Armour cupola



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 H. WEY

ARMOUR CUPOLA March 22, 1966 Filed May 4, 1964.

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ARMOUR CUPOLA Filed May 4, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 'F F 3/ f "2 J & J 17/!A i t 4 A I I Fi .6 9 315 11 "LL EEE F'Z'ZT 5 :z-n-Bzd 70/- Zhvenfo/ 572Hermann W fiffo w gs United States Patent Q 3,241,446 ARMOUR CUPOLAHermann Wey, Wallisellen Zurich, Switzerland, assignor toVerwaltungsgesellschaft der Werkzeugmaschinenfahrik Oerlilron,Zurich-Oerlikon, Switzerland Filed May 4, 1964, Ser. No. 364,723 Claimspriority, application Switzerland, May 16, 1963, 6,166/ 63 4 Claims.(CI. 89-36) The invention relates to an armour cupola having a drumshield mounted rotatably about a horizontal axis and an ejector shaftfor the cartridge cases connected therewith, behind which a cut-out isprovided in the ceiling of the cupola with a closure slide capable ofclosing said cut-out.

In a known armour cupola of this type a plate is pivotally attached tothe drum shield behind the shaft, and, for equilibrium, is slidablymounted in a second plate, the end of which is pivotally attached to theceiling of the armour cupola. When the barrel of the weapon ispositioned horizontally, both plates lie at the level of the ceiling andform part of it. When elevating the barrel, however, the plates areswung into the interior of the armour cupola about the pivot point ofthe second plate, the plate pivotally attached to the armour cupolabeing shifted relative to the other plate. Thereby a wedge shaped roughis formed extending downward from the top of the cupolas ceiling, intowhich the empty cartridge cases ejected through the shaft drop back,where they may hamper or even prevent the movement of the plate andhence the turning of the armour shield and/ or barrel.

A further disadvantageous effect is, that lateral closure jaws are to beprovided, which extend into the interior of the armour cupola and sealthe cupola outwardly, when the two plates sink into the interior of thecupola upon turning the cradle of the weapon. Owing to the very limitedspace available anyway inside the cupola, these jaws reduce the accessto the weapon even further, and moreover the accumulation of thecartridge cases ejected from the shaft in the wedge-shaped trough iseven more accentuated by their impinging on the side walls of the troughimmediately after leaving the shaft and by their keeping lying in thetrough.

A further disadvantage consists in that the cartridge cases ejected fromthe shaft fall back into the same, and may cause breakdowns of functionof the breech of the weapon by hampering the ejection of subsequentcartridge cases.

The invention has the primary object of overcoming these disadvantagesand of providing an armour cupola, which involves a considerably smallerstructural expense than the known construction and which, owing toadaptability of the shape of the closure slide to the external shape ofthe cupola, offers the advantage, that the cartrid'ge cases and otherarticles do not find any hold but slide off and are incapable of formingan accumulation. It is another object of the invention to provideincreased safety thereby that the empty cartridge cases are deflectede.g. so as to fly off sideways, so that for example upon a weak ejectioncaused by the weapon, at low speed, they can neither fall back into theshaft nor get into the vicinity of the closure slide at all. It is yetanother object of the invention to provide an armour cupola, whichdispenses with structural elements protruding into the interior of thecupola, where they are in the way, take up space and are generallyundesirable.

With this and other objects in view which will become apparent laterfrom this specification and the accompanying drawings, I provide anarmour cupola for a combat vehicle, comprising in combination: a cupolaceiling, a drum shield and an ejector shaft for the empty cartridge3,241,446 Patented Mar. 22, 1966 cases connected therewith mountedpivotally about a horizontal axis relative to said ceiling, wherein acut-out is provided behind said ejector shaft, a closure slide for saidejector shaft slidably mounted and guided on said ceiling, and a springbiasing said closure slide, so that it abuts said shaft over at leastpart of its sliding path, which latter is limited in the advancedposition of said slide by said drum shield.

Preferably this cupola comprises also a flap hinged to the top of saidshaft about a horizontal axis and in the open condition assuming aninclined end position deflecting the empty cartridge cases leaving saidshaft from the ejection direction predominant in said shaft.

These and other features of my said invention will be clearly understoodfrom the following description of a preferred embodiment and detailmodification thereof, given by way of example with reference to theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section through the armour cupola with thebarrel elevated;

FIG. 2 corresponds to FIG. 1, but with the barrel in the horizontalposition;

FIG. 3 is a section on the line IIIIII of FIG. 1 on a larger scale;

FIG. 4 likewise, but for a second embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a section on the line VV of FIG. 1 on a larger scale;

FIG. 6 is a partial plan view of the cupola ceiling and of the slide inthe position according to FIG. 1.

In the armour cupola 3, which is rotatably mounted on the turret 2 of afighting vehicle about the azimuth aiming axis Z-Z a cradle 4, whichcarries the automatic firearm 1, is mounted pivotally about thetrunnions 6 forming the elevation aiming axis AA.

A drum shield 7 is fixedly connected with the cradle 4, and so is also asecond drum shield 8', which according to FIG. 5 is guided in theopening 9 of the ceiling 31 and in the inclined front wall 32 of thearmour cupola 3. A shaft 10 is fixed to the cradle 4 and to the shield7, through which shaft the empty cartridge cases coming from the weapon1 are ejected into the open. As shown in FIG. 6, the shaft 10 extendsinto a cut-out denoted 5, which is cut into the ceiling 31 of thecupola. At the left and right of the cut-out 5 the ceiling 31 extendswith an inner edge 311 contacting the shield 8. In accordance with FIGS.1 and 3 this cut-out 5 is covered by a movable slide 11 guided betweenthe two parallel edges 312 and 313 therein and resting on the ceiling31, which slide is held in its slide track by a cover 12. By helicalsprings 13 arranged in one of its grooves 14 and abutting the rear wallof the cover 12, the slide 11 is biased towards the rear wall 101 of theshaft 10' and towards the drum shield 8, respectively.

As shown as a modification in FIG. 4, the slide 11 may however, bearranged and guided for example on the underside of the ceiling 31 ofthe cupola. The slide 11 is supported on the lower side and is held inits slide track by a cover 12a. On the exterior side of the ceiling 31 acorresponding plate 12b takes over the protection against thepenetration of foreign bodies.

On the upper edge of a side wall of the shaft 10 projecting beyond theshield 8, an axle 15 is mounted (see FIG. 5), on which a flap 16 iskeyed. Moreover a linkage 17 is connected with the axle 15, by means ofwhich the flap 16 may be turned by an adjustment lever 18.

From this construction follows the manner of operation of thearrangement described hereinabove of the armour cupola:

When putting the arrangement into readiness for combat, the gunner opensthe flap 16, which previously had been held in the closure position, byactuating the lever 18 until a predetermined end position is reached.

With the shaft 10 thus opened, any empty cartridge cases 19 ejectedthrough the same, impinge the flap 16, which is directed obliquelyupwards, and are deflected laterally by the same e.g. transversely ofthe aiming direction of the weapon, and are thrown off. Thereby thecartridge cases thrown up are prevented from falling back into shaft 10or on the ceiling 31 of the cupola. Moreover the ejected cartridge casesare prevented from dropping in front of the barrel of the weapon, whenthe shaft is inclined forward, i.e. when the weapon is pointinghorizontally, in which position the cartridges could get into thetrajectory of their own protectiles and could be met there by aprojectile leaving the barrel. By explosion of such projectile, owing toresponse of its fuse to the impact of an empty cartridge case, a greatdanger would be created.

When lowering the weapon, for example from the position illustrated inFIG. 1, to the horizontal as shown in FIG. 2, the shaft 10 moves forwardin the cut-out of the ceiling, until its rear wall 101 reaches theposition indicated in FIG. 2.

During this movement of the shaft the slide 11 taking part in thismovement owing to the bias of the springs 13 abuts the wall 101 of theshaft, whereby the cut-out 5 is kept closed, and when the weapon 1 islowered further, the slide 11 reaches the limit of its path, abuttingthe drum shield 8.

While I have herein described and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings what may be considered a typical and particularly usefulembodiment of my said invention and a detail modification thereof, Iwish it to be understood that I do not limit myself to the particulardetails and dimensions described or illustrated; for obviousmodifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a tank cupola for a combat vehicle comprising in combination acupola roof provided with a recess having an interiorly located roofedge, the sides of said recess extending from said edge lying parallelto one another, an axis essentially parallel to said edge, a bodyswingable forth and back between two final positions around said axis,said body comprising a drum shield contacting said edge, an ejectingflue protruding from said shield and said cupola roof, said ejectingflue in a first of said two final positions being located outside ofsaid recess and in a second position engaging in said recess, plate-likecovering means extending along said cupola roof to cover said recesscomprising a springloaded slide displaceable on said sides of saidrecess in the direction towards said edge, whereby said slide in saidfirst position engaging said edge is resiliently urged against said drumshield and in said second mentioned position against said ejecting flue.

2. In a tank cupola as claimed in claim 1 wherein said slide has aprotecting plate secured to the outside of said supola roof partiallycovering said slide.

3. In a tank cupola as claimed in claim 1 wherein a guiding plate isattached to the interior side of said cupola roof partially guiding saidslide.

4. In a tank cupola as claimed in claim 1 wherein a flap hinged to thetop of said flue about a horizontal axis and in an open conditionassuming an inclined end position deflecting empty cartridge casesleaving said flue from the ejection direction predominant in said flue.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 6/1916 MooreS9-36 1/1957 Molins et a1. 89-33 X OTHER REFERENCES Keller et 211.:German Application No. 1,105,313, Published April 20, 1961.

1. IN A TANK CUPOLA FOR A COMBAT VEHICLE COMPRISING IN COMBINATION ACUPOLA ROOF PROVIDED WITH A RECESS HAVING AN INTERIORLY LOCATED ROOFEDGE, THE SIDES OF SAID RECESS EXTENDING FROM SAID EDGE LYING PARALLELTO ONE ANOTHER, AN AXIS ESSENTIALLY PARALLEL TO SAID EDGE, A BODYSWINGABLE FORTH AND BACK BETWEEN TWO FINAL POSITIONS AROUND SAID AXIS,SAID BODY COMPRISING A DRUM SHIELD CONTACTING SAID EDGE, AN EJECTINGFLUE PROTRUDING FROM SAID SHIELD AND SAID CUPOLA ROOF, SAID EJECTINGFLUE IN A FIRST AND SAID TWO FINAL POSITIONS BEING LOCATED OUTSIDE OFSAID RECESS AND IN A SECOND POSITION ENGAGING IN SAID RECESS, PLATE-LIKECOVERING MEANS EXTENDING ALONG SAID CUPOLA ROOF TO COVER SAID RECESSCOMPRISING A SPRINGLOADED SLIDE DISPLACEABALE ON SAID SIDES OF SAIDRECESS IN THE DIRECTION TOWARDS SAID EDGE, WHEREBY SAID SLIDE IN SAIDFIRST POSITION ENGAGING SAID EDGE IS RESILIENTLY URGED AGAINST SAID DRUMSHIELD AND IN SAID SECOND MENTIONED POSITION AGAINST SAID EJECTING FLUE.